Cultural Dessert

Monday, September 21, 2009

'Moon' by Duncan Jones

21 September 2009

Visiting the magnificent Regent Cinema in Lyme Regis is like stepping back in time so it was appropriate that, although we were there to see a science fiction film, it had an old-fashioned feel to it. ‘Moon’ is a low-budget British film, written and directed by Duncan Jones which recalls some classic science fiction movies of the sixties and seventies. Sam Rockwell stars, almost single-handedly, as an astronaut coming to the end of a three-year solitary stint on a mining station on the moon. The plot, pace, suspense and mystery are beautifully handled to create an unusual, intelligent and enthralling human drama with little action and hardly any special effects.

Dorset

21 September 2009

We had a lovely week in Dorset in a cottage outside Thorncombe, close to the borders with Devon and Somerset. We had some glorious weather, particularly towards the end of the week, and did lots of walking. Highlights were the walk up the coastal path to Golden Cap (the highest point on the south coast of England), the beautiful National Trust gardens at Barrington Court, the fascinating tiny volunteer-run museum in Sherborne and the exhibition of Tudor portraits from the National Portrait Gallery at Montacute House.

Friday, September 04, 2009

‘Home Truths’ by David Lodge

4 September 2009

In 1998 we went to Birmingham Rep to see ‘Home Truths’, a new play by David Lodge which explored notions of fame and celebrity through the subject of a newspaper celebrity interview. Queuing at the box office to collect our tickets we realised that the man in front of us, in a dishevelled cardigan, was the author (much shorter in real life than he appears on the television!). Lodge later rewrote ‘Home Truths’ as a novella which I read at a single sitting last Sunday. The form of the book reminded me of the shorter works of Alan Bennett, such as 'The Uncommon Reader’ (reviewed here in November 2008) and, like all David Lodge’s books, it deals with complex themes and emotions in a very accessible and humorous way. It was fun to be reminded of the play, and of how our preoccupations with celebrity haven’t changed much in the past eleven years.

‘When Will There Be Good News’ by Kate Atkinson

4 September 2009

‘When Will There Be Good News’, Kate Atkinson’s third Jackson Brodie novel maintains the structure of its predecessor ‘One Good Turn’ (reviewed here in February 2008). The story is told in the third person but the point of view rotates, chapter by chapter, in this case around three main characters. Atkinson has some fun in occasionally keeping you guessing as to whose eyes you are seeing a scene through – particularly when several of the ‘narrators’ are present. Once again former policeman and private detective Jackson Brodie is thrown into a crime story that refuses to follow the conventions of crime writing. After a stunning opening chapter, a host of misunderstandings and coincidences gradually contrive to resolve the principal mysteries but leave several loose ends. Extremely readable and very enjoyable.

Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich concert

4 September 2009

In the early 1980s I was one of several winners of a schools classical music quiz sponsored by General Accident. My prize was to be a VIP guest of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra at a concert at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, conducted by Sir Alexander Gibson. On arriving (by chauffeur-driven car) at the concert, I discovered that most of the other prize-winners were familiar faces from the Manchester Youth Orchestra. The concert included the ‘Emperor’ Piano Concerto by Beethoven played by John Lill and Mahler’s ‘Symphony No. 4’. Memories of this occasion came flooding back on Saturday as we were at the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London to see the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, conducted by David Zinman, perform Mahler’s 4th Symphony with the American soprano Dawn Upshaw. It was a magical performance by a great orchestra and reminded me how delicate and moving this symphony is – much less brash and bombastic than other Mahler symphonies. The concert also included the UK premiere of ‘She Was Here’ – a new setting for soprano and orchestra of four Schubert songs by the Argentine-born composer Osvaldo Golijov. I thought this a beautiful piece, though some reviewers (perhaps more familiar with the original songs) found it a bit too saccharine.

About Me

Since September 2005 Robin Simpson has been Chief Executive of Voluntary Arts, which provides a universal voice for approximately 63,000 voluntary arts groups, across the UK and Ireland, involving more than 10 million participants in creative cultural activities. A keen amateur French horn player, Robin is currently a member of the Northampton Symphony Orchestra. Robin is a perennial ballroom dancing student, a frequent theatre-goer, an enthusiastic reader of contemporary fiction, an insatiable consumer of classical and world music and a keen blogger at www.culturalplayingfield.org and www.culturaldessert.blogspot.com